Scottish Hope

This tale concerns the Scottish poet, Thomas Campbell. Campbell, when a young man, was on a walking tour in the South of Scotland and met a very stormy spell of weather in the midst of the Lowther Hills. He made for the nearest inn and, after a hearty meal of ham and eggs, he got himself to bed. It was a wild wet night, but the inn was dark and cosy, and the young Scottish poet lay musing upon his latest poem. Suddenly there came a gentle tap at the door and the dainty little serving lass, shading a candle with her hand, slipped quietly into the room. She crept up to the bedside table and smiling shyly, whispered, "Sir, could take another into your bed ?" "With all my heart," breathed the young poet. "I thank you, sir," said the young lass, "for Johnny MacGrizzle, the Moffat cattleman, has just arrived, soaked to the skin." And that is supposed to have suggested to Campbell the title of his next volume, The Pleasure of Hope. The Book of Pleasures: Containing the Pleasures of Hope, by Thomas Campbell; the Pleasures of Memory, by Samuel Rogers; and the Pleasures of Imagination, by Mark Akenside..